Contents

Members

Alexander M.

Keerthi K.

Spencer K.

Allicia G.

Zachery W.

Introduction

Black and Decker has revolutionized the tool industry with their Alligator Lopper; a design that is described as a combination of an ordinary chainsaw and the parent lopper. The Alligator Lopper is ideal for tree pruning, clearing brush, storm clean-up, cutting firewood and more, and it is a great alternative to chainsaws, manual loppers, handsaws and clippers.

This innovative tool will make cleaning up the yard less of a chore. The clamping jaws grab and cut in 1 easy motion, and with the 4.5 Amp motor, you'll get fast and powerful performance. After a storm, this device can cut fallen branches into manageable pieces to take to the curb or stack by the fire pit. When manual pruners just won't cut it, you'll appreciate the 4 inch cutting capacity that allows you to not only tidy up the yard, but eliminate large branches that keep the sun from reaching your garden below.

The Alligator Lopper’s jaws offer the ultimate in controlled cutting. The rugged metal guards that cover the jaws protect you from the cutting chain and immediately cover the blades once the cut is complete. The scissor action allows for fast, easy cutting and is great for pruning trees & shrubs.

Project Proposal

Work Proposal

In our group's attempt to further understand the inner mechanisms of our multi-purpose Alligator Lopper hand tool, we plan to perform reverse engineering and deconstruct the equipment to reveal its moving internal parts and subsystem interactions. Once we obtain the actual product, we can further examine its exterior and make assumptions about its limitations as far as movement, accessibility, and other similar characteristics. However, the bulk of our project requires us to disassemble the product. Based on pictures we have viewed online, we anticipate that we will use a wrench or socket set for the two main exterior bolts, Phillips screwdrivers will be required for the outer housing, and a set of allen wrenches could be of significant use when dismantling the subsystems within the housing. During the deconstruction process, we plan to arrange the disassembled parts in an ordered fashion documenting their purpose and its placement within the product's systems. This will make an easier task of reassembling the product after our dissection. Our group seems to be strong in understanding the technical workings of this piece of equipment based on photographs seemingly due to previous experience with lawn care devices. At least one of us has used a chainsaw a few times in their life so that experience and understanding will come in handy when trying to reverse engineer this product.

Management Proposal

Before getting started on each gate, the group gates should be divided into different tasks for which each group member will be responsible for. One person will be assigned as the "Communication Liaison". They will be in charge of making sure everyone is knowledgeable about what is going on and who will do what tasks. There will also be a "Gate Manager" who does the updating to the wiki and final check of the uploaded information. They will work with the "Communication Liaison to make sure everyone is doing their work. The group should outline how they plan on tackling the upcoming gate. Based on group member preference, the actual work will be divided equally among the group. This will allow each member to pursue their own interests in dealing with the project. Revision will be a constant process and the group should meet a few times before the assignment date to make sure everyone is on track in delivering their assigned part of the work. The last few days before the due date the group should meet in its entirety and have a formal review of what has been completed so that it is up to the academic standards of each group member.

The following members can be contacted if there are questions about the group:

Project Gates

Gate One

Gate Two

Gate Three

Purpose

In this stage of the project, the group will use the previously dissected components hidden within the subsystems to gather more detailed information about the product. Rather than looking at the flows and functions of the overall subsystems, such as the chainsaw, or the motor, the group will analyzed the components of those systems by specifying the functionality, process in which the component were created from, and flows that go in and out of those components. Added to the analysis of the components, the group will provide 3 Dimensional models of the components that exist within the subsystems.

The group will examine key components or functions of the system, and explain how engineering analysis would be used in the design or testing stages of the design process. They will apply relevantly common equations and processes that would allow an engineer to easily perform this analysis. The final task at hand is following through with the engineering analysis to perform design revisions for
at least three components of the subsystem level. The group is allowed to change, combine, or eliminate components, and express global, societal, economic, or environmental concerns regard said changes. The changes should improve performance, serviceability, cost, and other such properties of the product.

Gate Four

Purpose

In this stage of the Project, the group will reassemble their product as a means of acquiring more detailed information regarding its functionality and properties that will be used for students to create a conclusion about their overall product. The groups will share any unresolved challenges encountered and explain how these problems were addressed.

The group will describe how the product was reassembled by a detailed and organized table that describes specific tools usage, assembly difficulty, and pictures or videos where relevant. The outline created should be written with regards to an individual not familiar with the product, in which the individual can successfully reassemble the product.

This gate also demonstrated that the group can identify mechanisms their device uses to generate specific motion, control system behavior, modify/condition energy. They will identify its technical name, clearly state its purpose, document how the mechanism works, and provide equations that are required for the design of the mechanism.

Finally, the group will recommend at least three design changes for the product at the system level, including features that be would changed or eliminated; these changes should reflect global, societal, economic, or environmental concerns. Additionally, the changes should improve performance, serviceability, and cost, with regards to the fact that the products targets audience and price point.